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Meet John Moran

Research Fisheries Biologist, NOAA/NMFS Auke Bay Laboratories

John Moran

John's role in Gulf Watch Alaska:

Pelagic Ecosystems Humpback Whale Program Co-Principal Investigator

Important skills for his position:

"You definitely need patience, you need to be very tolerant of weather, and just being able to endure things and not really give up."

Challenges in his work:

"Being on a small boat when it’s really rough, battling the weather, wind and rain, having your expensive camera getting salt spray on it... and then the whales just not cooperating."

John's advice to young people interested in science: "I would take math and English. Those are two things that I didn’t really think I needed very much that are very important. Work hard, do things that people don’t want to do. You’re not going to go out and tag whales on your first day, but if you're entering data or doing some of the more tedious things, then you make yourself very useful. And it’s a good way to meet people, a good way to get your foot in the door."

 

John Moran describes some of the fun and frustrations of tracking humpback whales in the Gulf of Alaska. (0:50)

Video Transcript

 

Who is watching the Gulf?

Meet John
Meet Sonia
Meet Dan
Meet Heather

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